


call on me, sister, when you need a hand

by Darth Occlus (NotSummer)



Series: divergance (complete) [4]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Background Relationships, Bad Puns, Blood, Confessions, Crash Landing, Developing Friendships, Dinosaurs, Established Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Headcanon, Loss of Limbs, Stranded, Twi'leks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 12:31:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13681731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotSummer/pseuds/Darth%20Occlus
Summary: When their ship crashes, ARC Captain Ross and Jedi Shadow Naida must figure out how to work together. Large predators hunt this uncivilized world, and the wreck is only the beginning of their troubles.





	call on me, sister, when you need a hand

**Author's Note:**

> As always, Ross belongs to @MayLovelies, and my thanks for letting me borrow him yet again.

Miyala was thrown off her feet as the ship screamed through the atmosphere. Her hands were wrenched from the controls of the gun turrets, and she slammed into the wall as the ship bucked and jerked.

“You might want to buckle in,” the ARC trooper piloting snapped. 

She paused from where she was prone on the floor to roll her eyes before getting to her feet. Using the Force, she was able to move to the copilot’s chair, strapping herself in. She glared at Ross, and snapped, “It’s not my fault the ship is crashing, I was trying to shoot down the kriffing droids.”

“And you missed!”

The horizon disappeared from the front viewport and she closed her eyes, bracing for impact. This ship’s safety measures were offline. Just before the crash, she threw up a barrier between her and Ross. The metal buckled and snapped and shattered as the ship slammed into the ground, but her and Ross survived the initial landing. She pushed more power into the barrier, feeling shrapnel and sparks ping off of it.

The ship slammed into a cliffside, and she was thrown forward, her head slamming into a console, and everything went dark.

She awoke to the crackling of a fire, and Ross sitting next to her, looking pensive. He glanced over as she shifted, and said, “The ship is destroyed. Comms are gone. I managed to salvage some rations, but it looks like we’re stranded.” He paused, considering, and added, “Your barrier saved our lives.”

“They should come looking for us,” Miyala replied, sitting up. She leaned against the rock face, and turned her head to her right to see the ship still crumpled against it. “We just need to make sure we’re still here when they do come.”

Ross looked like he disagreed, but held his tongue. He was wary around her, always on his guard. It made Miyala uneasy, but she understood it. The Jedi had been using the clones for their own ends, uncaring about the slavery these men had been born into.

She wondered sometimes: if she had not been a Shadow, if she had spent her time among the Temple and not among pirates and criminals, would she have been able to see the rot within the Order? How bitter the pill was to be sent out to hunt down slaving enterprises only to return home to one. She felt far freer as Mi Kallig, weapons smuggler and occasional bounty hunter, captain of the Occlus, than Jedi Shadow Miyala Naida.

Her and Ross sat silently, watching the fire. The warmth was welcome: the planet was cold, and the suns were going down. Often Miyala felt comfortable in silence, but this was strained, cautious silence.

She let her eyes close again, eager to escape from reality into dreams. She found only nightmares waiting for her, though: familiar white and blue armor dripping blood, a hand being torn from her grasp, and a myriad of images that brought only mingled terror and despair. She awoke with a start, nearly hyperventilating. Ross was giving her an odd look. “You talk in your sleep.”

“I’m sure I said nothing enlightening,” she grumbled.

He hummed: not an agreement, but not a disagreement. “You kept calling for Jesse. Your partner.”

She hesitated, but only said. “My partner, yes. I trust him.” Relationships between Jedi and clone were forbidden. She didn’t know Ross. She pulled her secret closer to her heart.

She stood, shaking herself. “I’m going to go hunt. With luck, I’ll find something edible. Preferably meat.” She gave Ross an apologetic look. “Those rations are made for humans, I need more meat based proteins in my diet.”

He nodded. “Twi’leks are mesocarnivores, I know.” He waved his hand at her. “Go hunt.”

She grinned, and disappeared into the brush. She was still shaky, but as she moved, her steps became surer and she was soon flitting through the undergrowth. She drew the force around her, becoming invisible while enhancing her speed.

Something large had come through here, and she was hurtling through the woods that encroached on the cliffside when she nearly ran into it. The scaled beast raised it’s massive head, and she stopped to study it. It stood on muscular back legs, and it had two small arms, with two fingers. It stared right at her, and realizing it could see right through her invisibility, she let the Force go.

The ground trembled as it took a step towards her, and a low rumbling emanated from it. She felt it more than she could hear it, and sidestepped as she realized it heard wavelengths she couldn’t.

It lunged, and she danced out of the way, leaping onto it’s back. It didn’t look armored, and she drew her lightsabers. It moved sharply, trying to throw her off, and she lost her footing, hitting the ground hard. It’s massive jaws snapped at her, and she barely rolled out of the way in time, spring back to her feet, and then onto the reptile’s shoulders. Her lightsabers sprang to life, the purple blades hissing as she swung the twin double bladed sabers, severing the spinal cord.

The massive animal dropped to the ground as the connection between its legs and it’s brain was severed, and its legs kicked out wildly. She stabbed forward, sending one blade spiking into the brain case. Or where she hoped the braincase was; one could never tell with new alien lifeforms. Its struggles died as the great beast took its last breath, and she slumped, leaning on the body.

It took her over two hours to drag the carcass back to Ross, and she overdramatically slumped onto the ground. He snorted, but helped her start cutting up the meat, which after they cooked it was tough and gamey, but it was food. Miyala had an easier time ripping into it with her sharper teeth, and technically, she could eat raw meat and be fine, but on an unknown world she’d rather not take her chances. Additionally, she didn’t want to subject Ross to the sight of blood dripping down her chin: eating raw flesh was rather messy.

They spent a solid week like this: hunting, eating, waiting, and talking. Slowly, their barriers disappeared, and they began to trust one another. The quiet was shattered when a second reptilian creature lumbered out of the forest. Miyala and Ross sprang to their feet, watching. It was likely attracted by the carcass of the first beast. That the body had been carved for bits and disposed of already made no difference. It could still smell the blood.

Her and Ross separated on an unspoken signal, weaving around it, giving it more than one target. Miyala stepped in closest, ready to move out of the way when it lunged. It kept its eyes on her, perhaps more drawn by her bright red skin and purple blades than Ross’s blue striping.

It lunged, and the fight was on, the two humanoids dodging around the snapping jaws as best they could. Ross’s blasters found the neck and eyes, and it lunged back at him. Miyala leapt, slamming into Ross.

The massive jaws snapped shut on her arm and she shrieked, but had presence of mind enough to swing her blade around and bury it into the creature’s eyes. It let go, roaring that low rumble, and she staggered, pushing out with the Force in a wild gesture as her left arm hung limp and useless.

The creature toppled, and Ross sprinted forward, emptying a power cartridge of blaster bolts into the creature’s brain. It gave a final twitch and went silent, and Ross hurried back to Miyala’s side. “You damn reckless Jedi,” he hissed, picking her up and carrying her into the wreckage of the ship. 

The pain dulled her, and she slurred out, “Wasn’t going to let you get hurt.”

He set her down, looking for the bacta and bandages. “I’m not. You shouldn’t have.”

“Worth it,” she mumbled, trying not to focus on the blood dripping down the remains of her shredded arm. Twi’lek blood was darker than human blood, and often matched skin tone. Her own blood was a dark purplish red, and it had a pearly sheen to it that humans blood lacked.

Out here, with no real supplies, no real medical attention, this could kill her.

She flailed blindly for Ross as her vision started to darken and dizziness set in. “Jesse. You have to tell Jesse. I love him. ‘M not supposed to, but I do. More than anything.”

Ross swore under his breath. “You can tell him yourself when we get out of this.”

She kept herself awake enough long enough to say one final thing, “If I thought he’d leave the army, I’d run from the Order with him.”

She fell into darkness, her last thoughts of her lover, so far away.

When she woke up, she was surrounded by sterile metal walls, and the air was thick with the scent of anesthetic. “You fucking idiot,” she heard, and she craned her neck to see an irate ARC trooper. She tried to reach for him, but her left arm was missing, and panic started to set in.

He sat on the edge of her bed, reaching out, placing a hand on her scarred and ruined shoulder. “Easy. You’re fine. They just don’t have the parts to get you a replacement on the ship.”

She calmed at the touch, regulating her breathing. She stared at the stump, the pink scar tissue covering the end. She looked up, finally, her voice cracking, “So, will you give me a hand with things until I get the replacement?”

“I should have left you on that damned planet,” he said darkly, but there was a grin spreading across his face. He soon sobered, though. “Jesse is on his way here, but right now it’s just you and me. I’ve swept for bugs, we’re unmonitored.”

She nodded, leaning forward. She started to prop herself up and lean on her crossed legs, but winced as she remembered she only had the one arm. “You want to know more.”

He nodded sharply, and she let out a breath. “We were assigned as partners, and it just... Happened. We fell in love. We started a relationship. We’ve been keeping it secret. Gods, I love him,” she said, her voice lowering into a whisper. “I’d never hurt him, or take advantage; we’ve talked about what it means for me to be a Jedi. He knows I plan to leave the Order after the war ends.”

“And how do you feel about the Jedi using a clone army?” Ross’s voice was tight, but she understood his need to ask.

“I hate it. It makes me furious, and I’d leave but if I stay, maybe I can prevent your brothers from dying. I spent five years undercover, rooting out slavers and destroying their networks only to return to a Temple full of them and it makes me sick, that I was out there fighting the worst the galaxy has to offer as the Jedi institutionalized it and made it ‘okay’.” She made quotes around okay, but her voice was tight with betrayal. She looked Ross in the eye, and finished, her voice low and deadly and promising some sort of retribution, “The Order is rotten, and there’s no meaning and honor in being a Jedi anymore.”

He looked satisfied, and said, “I’m glad to hear you feel that way. That you see that it’s wrong. Most Jedi don’t.”

“Most Jedi blindly trust the Council. But I’ve spent time in the real world, outside the Temple.”

Something clicked into place between them, and Ross grinned, sharp and ruthless. The grin faded, and he gave her a long look. “No more losing limbs, alright?”

“No promises,” she said dryly. “Friends?” She held her hand out, and he clasped it, nodding warmly.

“I suppose I can keep putting up with you,” he said, and she beamed at him.

He let go to sit back down in his chair, propping his boots up on the edge of her bed. She leaned back in her bed, still tired from everything, and she softly kicked his foot with her own. “What do you do to entertain yourself?”

“Read, mostly. You bored?”

She grinned guiltily. “Read something to me?”

“It’s a history book.”

“There is no ignorance, there is knowledge,” she replied dryly. He snorted, but pulled out a datapad, and began to read the book out loud. Her eyes narrowed to slits as he read, enjoying the company. They sat like that for hours, him eventually stopping as his voice grew hoarse, and as she drifted off to sleep in thee silence that followed, he pillowed his head on his arms and followed suit.

They were only woken by the entrance of another ARC. She yawned, sitting up to reach out for Jesse, who gave her a warning look at the gesture. “Ross is fine, he knows. I trust him.”

He hesitated a moment later, but then swept her into his arms. “I was worried.” He sat down on her bed, pulling her into his lap as Ross groaned and shook himself awake. She curled into Jesse’s chest, wishing he wasn’t wearing his armor, and he pulled her closer in his arms, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“And she was worried about you,” Ross replied. “She was bleeding out and still her only thought was about you.”

“Snitch,” Miyala muttered.

Jesse huffed, and exasperated smile breaking out over his face. “Ala isn’t known for putting herself first,” he said dryly.

“She’s been barred from combat for the next month, so she’s going to have to take a step back,” Ross replied. 

Miyala craned her neck to glare at Ross. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“I was conscious, and I talked to the medics. I’ve got… a limb up on the information side of things.”

She snickered. “Give me a hand and tell me the rest.”

“I’m glad you two are getting along,” Jesse said, hiding a smile at the puns. “You didn’t seem thrilled to be partnered together when I last saw you.”

“Nearly getting eaten by giant monsters is a hell of a way to start a friendship,” Ross said.

“We should have been better armed for the mission but it all worked out.” Miyala couldn’t resist one more jab, and her and Ross exchanged sly grins as Jesse rolled his eyes. Jesse kissed the top of her head, and said quietly, “Do me a favor and try not to get injured like this again.”

She tilted her head up to kiss him properly, keeping it closed mouth and chaste for Ross’s benefit. They might be friends now, but she was pretty sure he didn’t want to watch that. She yawned, pushing herself off Jesse’s lap so she could curl into her pillows.

“Sleep, Miyala. We’ll be here when you wake,” Ross said quietly, and basking in the presence of her friend and her lover, she slipped off again, her lips curling up into a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> i regret not a single pun.
> 
> additionally, i have more headcanons about twi'lek diets in response to Ryloth's arid climate, like they handle a wider range of flavors better than humans and such, less prone to foodborne toxins and diseases. Better at eating spicy food.


End file.
